Sudbury man sentenced to life in murder of Stephen Rakes

Update: According to a press release from Marian Ryan, district attorney, William Camuti was sentenced on Thursday, April 27, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

WOBURN — A Sudbury man has been convicted in the 2013 poisoning death of an alleged extortion victim of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office says a jury found 72-year-old William Camuti guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday. He is to be sentenced Thursday.

Prosecutors say Camuti killed 59-year-old Stephen Rakes in July 2013 when they were meeting in Waltham over a business deal. Authorities say Camuti gave Rakes an iced coffee laced with potassium cyanide and dumped his body in the woods.

Rakes had hoped to testify in Bulger's 2013 trial but wasn't called by prosecutors. Bulger was sentenced to two life terms in a racketeering case.

“Deeply in debt to his long-time business partner Stephen Rakes, William Camuti offered to meet the victim to discuss financial matters over coffee,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a press release. “Unbeknownst to the victim, the defendant had laced the victim’s coffee with potassium cyanide to avoid paying the $100,000 he owed the victim. The defendant then waited for his so-called friend to die before leaving the victim in the woods in Lincoln. When questioned by authorities, the defendant made a concerted and deliberate effort to mislead Massachusetts State Police and Lincoln Police. Thanks to the diligent work of these two law enforcement agencies and the prosecutors assigned to this case, today the jury found the defendant guilty of his crimes.”

Authorities say Rakes' death was not tied to the Bulger case.

On Wednesday, July 17, 2013, at approximately 1:30 p.m., a jogger running past woods on Mill Street in Lincoln, discovered Rakes' body.

Surveillance video showed Rakes leaving the Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse, where he had been regularly attending the trial of Bulger, on the afternoon of July 16, 2013. He was wearing the same clothing when his body was discovered, however the victim did not have a phone, keys or carrying identification.

Authorities learned that Camuti arranged to meet the victim around 1:45 p.m. at McDonald’s in Waltham on July 16 under the guise of discussing a real estate deal in Wilmington. The defendant purchased two iced coffees, one of which he mixed with two teaspoons of potassium cyanide. He gave the laced drink to the victim, who drank it.